Chapter Thirteen
“And then we can make goat cheese, for eating or for selling,” Mattie said. “According to Gar, this castle relies solely on the stipend provided by the Earl of Warenton. It would be nice if we could earn our own money or at least be more self-sufficient.”
She was speaking to Jordan, Rhoswyn, Avrielle, and Mariane.
Caria and Perseus were playing games with each other and not particularly paying attention to Mattie, but she didn’t care.
She wanted to know what these women thought, older and wiser than she was and women who had their own castles to manage.
She held her breath with anticipation as the women seemed to seriously consider her suggestion.
“I like yer spirit, lass,” Jordan said. “There is always something more a castle can be doing tae help itself. Castle Questing is the heart of the de Wolfe empire and we generate income with sheep and cattle, but also by training royal troops. The Crown pays handsomely for that.”
“Mae has her foundlings make goat cheese,” Rhoswyn said. When Mattie looked confused about whom she was referring to, she quickly clarified. “Mae is the Countess of Northumbria. She is married tae Tommy, Lady Warenton’s youngest son. My husband’s youngest brother.”
Mattie nodded. “Gar told me about her,” she said. “I think it is a very good idea.”
“As do I,” Rhoswyn said. “Ye have a head on yer shoulders, lass. I like tae see that. Ye’re thinking of ways tae help Gar.”
“I am,” Mattie said. “Though I am not entirely sure he appreciates it. I do not want to push him to do something he does not want to, but he did give me charge of the castle. And I say a castle should try to earn money for itself.”
“Agreed,” Avrielle said. Scott’s wife was a lovely, elegant woman with a refined look about her. She smiled at Mattie. “Every property of ours is a working castle. Castle Canaan, to the south, has miles of orchards. I believe we supply apples and pears to most of Cumbria.”
Mattie was feeling bolstered by their support. She honestly wasn’t sure how they would perceive her trying to change things at Gleann na Fola so soon after her arrival. And speaking of change, there was something else she wanted to do.
Perhaps now was a good time to discuss it.
“Then I appreciate your words of wisdom,” she said. “But there is something else I would like to do and I am not entirely sure how to go about it.”
“What is that, lass?” Jordan said.
“I’d like the hall… during meals… to be a little more civilized.”
Jordan cocked her head curiously. “What do ye mean?”
Mattie looked out at the great hall. The women were seated on the dais, but at one end of the table.
All of them, together. Gar, his brother, father, uncles, and cousins were at the other end, laughing and drinking.
Even Maksim was there, integrating into the group, which Mattie thought was rather nice.
At Hensingham, Maksim was the only knight.
He didn’t really have any other friends to eat and drink with.
Such was one of the curses of being a peaceful castle—it could be lonely and she knew that Maksim was lonely from time to time, which was why he tended to chase women.
But here—here, he had an entire group of elite knights to feast with and he seemed quite happy about it.
Mattie was happy for him.
But it didn’t solve the problem of the great hall, as a whole.
“We took the first step today by scrubbing the hall,” Mattie said. “I cannot thank you enough for your support and guidance in the matter.”
It was Rhoswyn who answered. “Lass, the fact that ye were brave enough tae tackle this cesspool of male stink immediately invited our support,” she said. “We were happy tae help, but we’ve already decided that the hall must be cleaned again tomorrow. One pass over this mess isna enough.”
Mattie smiled faintly. “Thank you for that,” she said. “I was thinking the same thing, but I did not want to send Gar into apoplexy by scrubbing his hall twice. I doubt it has been scrubbed once in the past twenty years.”
Jordan snorted. “Twenty years?” she said with disgust. “I was thinking fifty years.”
The women started laughing, watching as one of the dogs jumped up on the other end of the table and started tearing food from Andreas’ trencher. Andreas grabbed the dog by the scruff and put it back on the floor as the women’s laughter grew.
“God’s Bones,” Mariane said, shaking her head at the spectacle. “What a barn this place is.”
“And that is exactly my point,” Mattie said.
“I do not expect to make this place a palace, but I would like to at least make it more civilized. No dogs on the table. A clean floor every week. Commissioning a smithy to make spoons and knives that can be used by guests who come to visit. As an example, look at what we have in front of us—a trencher or a bowl. No spoon. No knife. I am told that men bring their own because none are supplied.”
Jordan wasn’t unsympathetic. She glanced at Rhoswyn, at Avrielle, women who both oversaw multiple de Wolfe castles. They, too, weren’t unsympathetic, but they were also realists. They knew how warring castles functioned and they suspected that Mattie did not.
“There are different kinds of castles, dearest,” Jordan finally said. “Some are more oriented toward battle, like this one is. Others are peaceful and more focused on commerce, mayhap. What of yer home? Did ye see much battle?”
Mattie shook her head. “None,” she admitted. “Our home is a fine and peaceful place. My mother is very proud of her hall. It is a glorious room with banners hung from the rafters and she has enough pewter spoons and knives for over one hundred guests. The feasts she gives are legendary in Cumbria.”
That explained a lot. That was the world that Mattie knew and it was natural for her to want to shape Gleann na Fola’s hall into something similar.
But the de Wolfe women could see, just by looking at Mattie, that she was like a babe in the woods when it came to a military castle.
She only knew her world, not her husband’s.
Sometimes, those two worlds could collide.
“It sounds like a lovely place,” Jordan finally said. “Have ye spoken tae Gar about making his hall a finer place?”
Mattie nodded. “A little,” she said. “I told him that I wanted to commission spoons and knives for our guests and he told me that I could.”
Jordan smiled. “Good,” she said. “I can help ye if ye wish.”
“I would like that very much, Lady Warenton.”
Another servant came around bearing more wine, pouring it into the women’s cups.
Next to Mariane, Perseus was growing tired and began to cry as Caria struggled to entertain him, so Mariane excused herself and her fussy son, heading off to bed.
Atreus, seated with the men, saw his wife carrying their son away and went after them, escorting his little family to bed for the night.
That had Gar up, moving over to where his wife and mother and grandmother were sitting.
“Queenie, come,” he said, pulling his wife out of her seat. “The women have had you long enough. I want you to sit with me.”
Mattie was swept along by her tipsy husband, but his mother stopped him. “She’s had a busy day, Gar,” Rhoswyn said. “Why not let the lass go tae bed now? She doesna need tae sit around with a bunch of smelly men.”
Gar frowned at his mother. “I am not smelly,” he said, but then sniffed the armpit of his tunic and shrugged. “Mayhap only a little. Do you not wish to sit with me, Queenie?”
Before Mattie could answer, Jordan spoke. “What’s this ye call her?” she said. “Queenie? Why do ye do that?”
Gar smiled at Mattie as he answered. “Because she is my queen,” he said. “Her mother is the empress. You should see the way that woman rules Hensingham. It is only right that Gleann na Fola have a queen.”
With that, he pulled her away before his grandmother could say anything further, planting her in his chair in the midst of the men.
Maksim was there, watching his sister with her new husband and genuinely astonished at the behavior.
He had been for the past several days. The two of them traveling together had been a spectacle of flirting and coy glances.
If Gar wasn’t looking at her, he was talking about her.
That man who’d never wanted to marry couldn’t think of anything else.
Even now, as Mattie was seated in Gar’s chair, all Gar could seem to do was hover over her.
He held her hand tightly, as if she were going to slip away.
“My lady,” Andreas said. “Gar tells us that you have ideas for generating revenue here at Gleann na Fola. He says that you are going to make him rich.”
Mattie smiled, embarrassed, as all eyes turned to her. “I do not think we shall be rich,” she said. “But I think that I could make the castle more self-sufficient.”
“With what?”
“He did not tell you?”
Andreas shook his head. “All he told us was that you were brilliant.”
Mattie looked at Gar, who was gazing at her with a rather besotted smile on his face.
“I see,” she said. “Since he did not tell you, then I shall. My idea was to have a herd of goats and make cheese and soap. That which we do not use, we can sell. It is always wise for a castle to have a source of income, is it not?”
She sounded bright and the men around the end of the table nodded in agreement as Gar puffed up proudly.
“You see?” he said. “She is brilliant.”
“Indeed,” Andreas agreed. “She is also a woman of action because she cleaned this hall today in a way the hall has probably never been cleaned before. That took bravery.”
“Fearlessness,” Tor chimed in. “Any woman who would take on such a challenge is positively legendary.”
While Mattie was left flushing with the flattery, Gar frowned at his family members. “Get out,” he told them. “If you insist on insulting me, get out. I’ll not feed you any longer.”